The first page of audited financial statements is the auditor’s report. This is an important part of the financials that shouldn’t be overlooked. It contains the audit opinion, which indicates whether the financial statements are fairly presented in all material respects, compliant with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and free from material misstatement.

The three approaches appraisers use to value a business are essentially a matter of common sense. You start with the balance sheet and adjust the book values of assets and liabilities to their market values. Then you turn to the income statement and evaluate how much cash the business is expected to generate in the future. Finally, you investigate how much competitors have sold for in the past.

The IRS today provided further details on additional transition relief for certain domestic partnerships and S corporations preparing the new schedules K-2 and K-3 to further ease the change to these new schedules. Those eligible for the relief will not have to file the new schedules for the tax year 2021.

According to blockchain data company Chainalysis, cryptocurrency transactions associated with illegal activity topped $14 billion in 2021. That’s almost double 2020 numbers — and the momentum shows no signs of slowing. In addition to outright cryptocurrency theft, these crimes include investment fraud and ransomware scams that affect businesses.

Tax rules on services can be tricky. When it comes to technology services it gets much trickier. Add in remote service, and the head starts to spin. One area that is especially complex is help supply services. Help supply services are defined as “providing temporary or continuing help where the help supplied is on the payroll of the supplying person or entity, but is under the supervision of the individual or business to which help is furnished.”1 PA Code Section 60.4 (b) states that the service is taxed if delivery or use occurs within Pennsylvania. “Delivery” is defined as when the employee reports to a location within the commonwealth, and “use” is defined as an employee performing work at a location within Pennsylvania.

If you save for retirement through a 401(k) plan, you may have noticed changes to it over the years — for example, automatic increases in your contributions and “catch-up” amounts for the over-50 crowd.

CFOs who exert influence and lead their organizations to quickly let go of lower-performing legacy business lines are more likely to add value to their companies' bottom lines. Gartner data shows that finance chiefs who exhibit "capital responsiveness" — acting fast to shift money toward more productive investments — can add up to 2.5 percentage points of economic value.

Do you want to withdraw cash from your closely held corporation at a minimum tax cost? The simplest way is to distribute cash as a dividend. However, a dividend distribution isn’t tax-efficient since it’s taxable to you to the extent of your corporation’s “earnings and profits.” It’s also not deductible by the corporation.

Next week, hopeful taxpayers will begin checking bank accounts for tax refunds. Tax season opened on Jan. 24, and the IRS says most taxpayers who file a tax return with no issues should expect a refund within 21 days if they file electronically and choose direct deposit.